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In January of this year Iwrote about a problem with the Collection Statute of Limitations (CSED) that my clinic encountered.ࠉn our quest to resolve the CSED problem, we involved the Local Taxpayer Advocate office.ࠉt confirmed that the CSED had run, despite the fact that the taxpayerҳ account was still open, and told us there was a glitch in the system; however, we were not told what the glitch was.ࠁ strong suspect for the glitch has now been identified. The recently publishedNational Taxpayer Advocate Objectives Report to Congress (Fiscal Year 2022) provides some information on the glitch.ࠔhe glitch was first publicly identified in ablog post by then-NTA Nina Olson.ࠉn that post, Nina said the IRS was working to address a glitch that was causing the IRS computer system not to recognize the CSED in certain cases in which taxpayers had sought installment agreements.ࠓhe indicated in her post that the issue surfaced two years prior in 2016 and her office had been working to identify cases.༯p> Her blog post identified five different buckets of cases in which the IRS was incorrectly calculating the CSED: Bucket 1 = multiple pending IAs with only one corresponding rejected IA determination Bucket 2 = one pending IA and one approved IA where 52 or more weeks have passed Bucket 3 = multiple pending IAs with one approved IA, where 26 or more weeks have passed Bucket 4 = one pending IA with one rejected IA, at least 52 weeks later Bucket 5 = one pending IA, with no other action on the IA request for at least 52 weeks Prior to her post, the IRS had agreed to review the cases TAS identified in Bucket 3 and found that 83% had incorrect CSEDs. Three years later and five years after the problem was identified, the recently published objectives report contains Objective 16 which is ӃONTINUE ADVOCACY EFFORTS TO CORRECT ERRONEOUS COLLECTION STATUTE EXPIRATION DATES DUE TO PENDING INSTALLMENT AGREEMENTS.Ԡ This section of the report states the following: In 2017, TAS identified a population of taxpayer accounts with unreversed or improperly reversed pending IAs that led to incorrect CSED calculations and erroneously added time to the tax debt collection period. TAS also found inconsistent IRS procedures related to CSED guidance. The IRS agreed to correct taxpayer accounts with erroneous CSEDs and the underlying problems that led to the miscalculations. In July 2020, TAS identified and provided the IRS with over 6,000 taxpayer accounts with CSEDs erroneously extended by one year or more. As of December 2020, the IRS had not finished reviewing and correcting these cases. TAS has recently provided the IRS with several thousand more taxpayer accounts that appear to have the CSED incorrectly extended by a year or more. Despite efforts to find and correct unreversed and improperly reversed pending IAs, TAS continues to find errors, resulting in incorrect CSED extensions of a year or more. I did not include the footnotes contained in this quote, which primarily refer to emails between TAS and an unidentified part of the IRS. I assume without being sure that the problems described in the Objectives Report detailing a continuation of the issues first publicly identified in the NTA blog post in 2018 resulted in the problem in the case in my clinic.ࠎow that we know the problem has continued long after it was identified and brought to the attention of the IRS and that it appears to be widespread for those taxpayers who entered into a failed installment agreement, all practitioners should be on the alert for IRS efforts to continue collection past the expiration of the statute of limitations. This is not a problem that should be ongoing.ࠔhe IRS should have fixed this problem long ago.ࠉt should be affirmatively notifying taxpayers and affirmatively refunding money to them.ࠁ high percentage of installment agreements fail.ࠅmployees of the Automated Call Sites routinely convince taxpayers to enter into installment agreements that the taxpayer cannot support over the long haul and taxpayers routinely have a rosier forecast for their financial future than turns out to be the case.ࠉtҳ easy to imagine even the best planned installment agreements failing in large numbers over the past 16 months given the impact of the pandemic on employment. The IRS needs to make public announcements on what it is doing to fix this problem and how it is going to put taxpayers back in the right position.ࠁ problem like this has a disproportionate impact on low income taxpayers who generally lack representation and lack the knowledge to challenge the IRS calculation of the CSED.ࠅven the most sophisticated taxpayers face challenges in calculating the CSED because of its complexity, as noted in thispost from several years ago.ࠆor this problem to continue for half a decade after it was brought to the attention of the IRS is unacceptable. Source link Related Posts: A Proposal, A Problem, A Credit, And An Exodus?
What to Look for in Online Tax Prep and Filing Software You may have a less taxing time this April if you let computer software do much of the hard work filing with the IRS. You wonҴ be alone. According to IRS data, more than 68 million tax returns were filed electronically last year, with more than 17 million taxpayers filing their own returns online. Ӕhere are a number of benefits that online tax prep and e-filing offer but you should do a little bit of homework first to get the greatest value for your dollar,Ԡsaid Debra Gray, tax software manager for CCH. According to Gray, some of the questions you should look to answer are: Is the software easy and secure? Online software can save time because you donҴ have to download it to your computer. Make sure, however, the program is easy to navigate, helps you organize your information and provides the support resources you need to complete your return, as well as encrypting your data using recognized security standards. Can you work at your own pace? Online tax preparation sites let you password protect your work, logging back in as often as you need. Make certain the program also automatically checks for errors or oversights and provides links to the problems for quick correction of potentially costly mistakes. What becomes of your return after you file? Make sure the program maintains a record of your prior yearҳ return, so you can roll over basic information from one year to the next. Does it clearly show the cost of preparing and filing your returns? Navigating the add-on pricing structure used by some tax software providers can be taxing in itself, with some promoting a federal price or free federal filing but not clearly indicating added costs for completing a state tax return. According to Gray, most do-it-yourself taxpayers should be able to find a good tax program for under $40, including costs for preparing both a federal and state return and e-filing the returns. What are the payment and refund options? Many sites let you deduct the cost of using their program from your expected tax refund and allow direct deposit of your refund into your bank account, for even faster access to your refund. What are the help and support options? Ideally, the program should be straightforward but you will want this safety net, so make sure the tax program offers support features via e-mail or live online chat. Ӕaxpayers who have been trying to complete their returns using pencil and paper or have been frustrated by the tax software programs theyҶe used in the past, really owe it to themselves to take a look at the features available in online tax software this year,Ԡsaid Gray. Ӑreparing taxes isnҴ how most people want to spend their time, but if theyҲe using the right tools, they can save time completing their returns online. As an added bonus, they will likely learn a few things that can help them save even more on their taxes this year and beyond.Լ/p> Related Posts: What to Look for in Online Tax Prep and Filing Software Retail Tax Franchises or Online Tax Software? Filing Taxes Online Now Stress Free, Cost Free Filing Taxes Online Now Stress Free, Cost Free Donor Disclosures, Income Measures, and Tax Prep
What to Look for in Online Tax Prep and Filing Software You may have a less taxing time this April if you let computer software do much of the hard work filing with the IRS. You wonҴ be alone. According to IRS data, more than 68 million tax returns were filed electronically last year, with more than 17 million taxpayers filing their own returns online. Ӕhere are a number of benefits that online tax prep and e-filing offer but you should do a little bit of homework first to get the greatest value for your dollar,Ԡsaid Debra Gray, tax software manager for CCH. According to Gray, some of the questions you should look to answer are: Is the software easy and secure? Online software can save time because you donҴ have to download it to your computer. Make sure, however, the program is easy to navigate, helps you organize your information and provides the support resources you need to complete your return, as well as encrypting your data using recognized security standards. Can you work at your own pace? Online tax preparation sites let you password protect your work, logging back in as often as you need. Make certain the program also automatically checks for errors or oversights and provides links to the problems for quick correction of potentially costly mistakes. What becomes of your return after you file? Make sure the program maintains a record of your prior yearҳ return, so you can roll over basic information from one year to the next. Does it clearly show the cost of preparing and filing your returns? Navigating the add-on pricing structure used by some tax software providers can be taxing in itself, with some promoting a federal price or free federal filing but not clearly indicating added costs for completing a state tax return. According to Gray, most do-it-yourself taxpayers should be able to find a good tax program for under $40, including costs for preparing both a federal and state return and e-filing the returns. What are the payment and refund options? Many sites let you deduct the cost of using their program from your expected tax refund and allow direct deposit of your refund into your bank account, for even faster access to your refund. What are the help and support options? Ideally, the program should be straightforward but you will want this safety net, so make sure the tax program offers support features via e-mail or live online chat. Ӕaxpayers who have been trying to complete their returns using pencil and paper or have been frustrated by the tax software programs theyҶe used in the past, really owe it to themselves to take a look at the features available in online tax software this year,Ԡsaid Gray. Ӑreparing taxes isnҴ how most people want to spend their time, but if theyҲe using the right tools, they can save time completing their returns online. As an added bonus, they will likely learn a few things that can help them save even more on their taxes this year and beyond.Լ/p> Related Posts: What to Look for in Online Tax Prep and Filing Software Retail Tax Franchises or Online Tax Software? Filing Taxes Online Now Stress Free, Cost Free Filing Taxes Online Now Stress Free, Cost Free Donor Disclosures, Income Measures, and Tax Prep
In January of this year Iwrote about a problem with the Collection Statute of Limitations (CSED) that my clinic encountered.ࠉn our quest to resolve the CSED problem, we involved the Local Taxpayer Advocate office.ࠉt confirmed that the CSED had run, despite the fact that the taxpayerҳ account was still open, and told us there was a glitch in the system; however, we were not told what the glitch was.ࠁ strong suspect for the glitch has now been identified. The recently publishedNational Taxpayer Advocate Objectives Report to Congress (Fiscal Year 2022) provides some information on the glitch.ࠔhe glitch was first publicly identified in ablog post by then-NTA Nina Olson.ࠉn that post, Nina said the IRS was working to address a glitch that was causing the IRS computer system not to recognize the CSED in certain cases in which taxpayers had sought installment agreements.ࠓhe indicated in her post that the issue surfaced two years prior in 2016 and her office had been working to identify cases.༯p> Her blog post identified five different buckets of cases in which the IRS was incorrectly calculating the CSED: Bucket 1 = multiple pending IAs with only one corresponding rejected IA determination Bucket 2 = one pending IA and one approved IA where 52 or more weeks have passed Bucket 3 = multiple pending IAs with one approved IA, where 26 or more weeks have passed Bucket 4 = one pending IA with one rejected IA, at least 52 weeks later Bucket 5 = one pending IA, with no other action on the IA request for at least 52 weeks Prior to her post, the IRS had agreed to review the cases TAS identified in Bucket 3 and found that 83% had incorrect CSEDs. Three years later and five years after the problem was identified, the recently published objectives report contains Objective 16 which is ӃONTINUE ADVOCACY EFFORTS TO CORRECT ERRONEOUS COLLECTION STATUTE EXPIRATION DATES DUE TO PENDING INSTALLMENT AGREEMENTS.Ԡ This section of the report states the following: In 2017, TAS identified a population of taxpayer accounts with unreversed or improperly reversed pending IAs that led to incorrect CSED calculations and erroneously added time to the tax debt collection period. TAS also found inconsistent IRS procedures related to CSED guidance. The IRS agreed to correct taxpayer accounts with erroneous CSEDs and the underlying problems that led to the miscalculations. In July 2020, TAS identified and provided the IRS with over 6,000 taxpayer accounts with CSEDs erroneously extended by one year or more. As of December 2020, the IRS had not finished reviewing and correcting these cases. TAS has recently provided the IRS with several thousand more taxpayer accounts that appear to have the CSED incorrectly extended by a year or more. Despite efforts to find and correct unreversed and improperly reversed pending IAs, TAS continues to find errors, resulting in incorrect CSED extensions of a year or more. I did not include the footnotes contained in this quote, which primarily refer to emails between TAS and an unidentified part of the IRS. I assume without being sure that the problems described in the Objectives Report detailing a continuation of the issues first publicly identified in the NTA blog post in 2018 resulted in the problem in the case in my clinic.ࠎow that we know the problem has continued long after it was identified and brought to the attention of the IRS and that it appears to be widespread for those taxpayers who entered into a failed installment agreement, all practitioners should be on the alert for IRS efforts to continue collection past the expiration of the statute of limitations. This is not a problem that should be ongoing.ࠔhe IRS should have fixed this problem long ago.ࠉt should be affirmatively notifying taxpayers and affirmatively refunding money to them.ࠁ high percentage of installment agreements fail.ࠅmployees of the Automated Call Sites routinely convince taxpayers to enter into installment agreements that the taxpayer cannot support over the long haul and taxpayers routinely have a rosier forecast for their financial future than turns out to be the case.ࠉtҳ easy to imagine even the best planned installment agreements failing in large numbers over the past 16 months given the impact of the pandemic on employment. The IRS needs to make public announcements on what it is doing to fix this problem and how it is going to put taxpayers back in the right position.ࠁ problem like this has a disproportionate impact on low income taxpayers who generally lack representation and lack the knowledge to challenge the IRS calculation of the CSED.ࠅven the most sophisticated taxpayers face challenges in calculating the CSED because of its complexity, as noted in thispost from several years ago.ࠆor this problem to continue for half a decade after it was brought to the attention of the IRS is unacceptable. Source link Related Posts: A Proposal, A Problem, A Credit, And An Exodus?
Arbitration happens outside the court of law unlike litigation aka the conventional resolution process that takes place in the courtroom. This process happens under an arbitrator instead of a judge. Arbitration is relatively less expensive compared to litigation. However, the cost depends on the lawyer hired for this purpose. In this article, we are going to take a look at the 5 advantages of hiring an arbitrator. Read on to find out more. Advantages of arbitration First of all, arbitration allows both parties to decide on the procedure and structure of the proceedings. Control of the process As said earlier, this process allows the parties to decide on the structure of the proceeding based on an agreement. So, this can streamline the procedure significantly in order to suit the case requirements. Finality: the decision of the arbitrator is final. Even if a party decides to challenge this decision, they will have to respect the limitation established by the Arbitration Act. According to the agreement, the decision is final and may lead to proceedings that may keep going for years before the verdict is announced by the court of law. Privacy: Another benefit of this alternative is privacy. Court proceedings are open to the masses, while arbitrations are conducted in privacy. If the matter is related to trade secrets or proprietary technology, it makes sense for both parties to allow only a select few people to be present during the hearings. Convenience: In the case of litigation, the trial dates are set by the court of law based on the convenience of both parties. In some cases, the interval between trials can be quite long. This can be quite inconvenient for business owners who donҴ have a lot of time. On the other hand, arbitration dates can be quite flexible. The parties can decide when they can get together to proceed with the matter. So, they can decide on the trial dates based on a mutual agreement. Costs Arbitration can help save a lot of money as the matter is settled outside the court of law without paying a lot of money to expensive lawyers. Plus, the matter can be solved without traveling to the court for several months or years. Therefore, it makes sense to hire the services of an arbitration lawyer. Long story short, if you want to settle a dispute without taking the matter into the court of law, we suggest that you try the services of an arbitration lawyer. Hopefully, these advantages are convincing enough to go with an arbitrator instead of a professional advocate to handle your case in the court. Source byAbdul Waheed Zafar Related Posts: Tax Considerations when Hiring a Nanny Hiring an IRS Dispute Lawyer Home Business Legalities And Tax Advantages Tax Advantages Of A Limited Liability Company Trainee Finance Rate Of Interest - Trainee Taxż/span>
What to Look for in Online Tax Prep and Filing Software You may have a less taxing time this April if you let computer software do much of the hard work filing with the IRS. You wonҴ be alone. According to IRS data, more than 68 million tax returns were filed electronically last year, with more than 17 million taxpayers filing their own returns online. Ӕhere are a number of benefits that online tax prep and e-filing offer but you should do a little bit of homework first to get the greatest value for your dollar,Ԡsaid Debra Gray, tax software manager for CCH. According to Gray, some of the questions you should look to answer are: Is the software easy and secure? Online software can save time because you donҴ have to download it to your computer. Make sure, however, the program is easy to navigate, helps you organize your information and provides the support resources you need to complete your return, as well as encrypting your data using recognized security standards. Can you work at your own pace? Online tax preparation sites let you password protect your work, logging back in as often as you need. Make certain the program also automatically checks for errors or oversights and provides links to the problems for quick correction of potentially costly mistakes. What becomes of your return after you file? Make sure the program maintains a record of your prior yearҳ return, so you can roll over basic information from one year to the next. Does it clearly show the cost of preparing and filing your returns? Navigating the add-on pricing structure used by some tax software providers can be taxing in itself, with some promoting a federal price or free federal filing but not clearly indicating added costs for completing a state tax return. According to Gray, most do-it-yourself taxpayers should be able to find a good tax program for under $40, including costs for preparing both a federal and state return and e-filing the returns. What are the payment and refund options? Many sites let you deduct the cost of using their program from your expected tax refund and allow direct deposit of your refund into your bank account, for even faster access to your refund. What are the help and support options? Ideally, the program should be straightforward but you will want this safety net, so make sure the tax program offers support features via e-mail or live online chat. Ӕaxpayers who have been trying to complete their returns using pencil and paper or have been frustrated by the tax software programs theyҶe used in the past, really owe it to themselves to take a look at the features available in online tax software this year,Ԡsaid Gray. Ӑreparing taxes isnҴ how most people want to spend their time, but if theyҲe using the right tools, they can save time completing their returns online. As an added bonus, they will likely learn a few things that can help them save even more on their taxes this year and beyond.Լ/p> Related Posts: What to Look for in Online Tax Prep and Filing Software Retail Tax Franchises or Online Tax Software? Filing Taxes Online Now Stress Free, Cost Free Filing Taxes Online Now Stress Free, Cost Free Donor Disclosures, Income Measures, and Tax Prep
In January of this year Iwrote about a problem with the Collection Statute of Limitations (CSED) that my clinic encountered.ࠉn our quest to resolve the CSED problem, we involved the Local Taxpayer Advocate office.ࠉt confirmed that the CSED had run, despite the fact that the taxpayerҳ account was still open, and told us there was a glitch in the system; however, we were not told what the glitch was.ࠁ strong suspect for the glitch has now been identified. The recently publishedNational Taxpayer Advocate Objectives Report to Congress (Fiscal Year 2022) provides some information on the glitch.ࠔhe glitch was first publicly identified in ablog post by then-NTA Nina Olson.ࠉn that post, Nina said the IRS was working to address a glitch that was causing the IRS computer system not to recognize the CSED in certain cases in which taxpayers had sought installment agreements.ࠓhe indicated in her post that the issue surfaced two years prior in 2016 and her office had been working to identify cases.༯p> Her blog post identified five different buckets of cases in which the IRS was incorrectly calculating the CSED: Bucket 1 = multiple pending IAs with only one corresponding rejected IA determination Bucket 2 = one pending IA and one approved IA where 52 or more weeks have passed Bucket 3 = multiple pending IAs with one approved IA, where 26 or more weeks have passed Bucket 4 = one pending IA with one rejected IA, at least 52 weeks later Bucket 5 = one pending IA, with no other action on the IA request for at least 52 weeks Prior to her post, the IRS had agreed to review the cases TAS identified in Bucket 3 and found that 83% had incorrect CSEDs. Three years later and five years after the problem was identified, the recently published objectives report contains Objective 16 which is ӃONTINUE ADVOCACY EFFORTS TO CORRECT ERRONEOUS COLLECTION STATUTE EXPIRATION DATES DUE TO PENDING INSTALLMENT AGREEMENTS.Ԡ This section of the report states the following: In 2017, TAS identified a population of taxpayer accounts with unreversed or improperly reversed pending IAs that led to incorrect CSED calculations and erroneously added time to the tax debt collection period. TAS also found inconsistent IRS procedures related to CSED guidance. The IRS agreed to correct taxpayer accounts with erroneous CSEDs and the underlying problems that led to the miscalculations. In July 2020, TAS identified and provided the IRS with over 6,000 taxpayer accounts with CSEDs erroneously extended by one year or more. As of December 2020, the IRS had not finished reviewing and correcting these cases. TAS has recently provided the IRS with several thousand more taxpayer accounts that appear to have the CSED incorrectly extended by a year or more. Despite efforts to find and correct unreversed and improperly reversed pending IAs, TAS continues to find errors, resulting in incorrect CSED extensions of a year or more. I did not include the footnotes contained in this quote, which primarily refer to emails between TAS and an unidentified part of the IRS. I assume without being sure that the problems described in the Objectives Report detailing a continuation of the issues first publicly identified in the NTA blog post in 2018 resulted in the problem in the case in my clinic.ࠎow that we know the problem has continued long after it was identified and brought to the attention of the IRS and that it appears to be widespread for those taxpayers who entered into a failed installment agreement, all practitioners should be on the alert for IRS efforts to continue collection past the expiration of the statute of limitations. This is not a problem that should be ongoing.ࠔhe IRS should have fixed this problem long ago.ࠉt should be affirmatively notifying taxpayers and affirmatively refunding money to them.ࠁ high percentage of installment agreements fail.ࠅmployees of the Automated Call Sites routinely convince taxpayers to enter into installment agreements that the taxpayer cannot support over the long haul and taxpayers routinely have a rosier forecast for their financial future than turns out to be the case.ࠉtҳ easy to imagine even the best planned installment agreements failing in large numbers over the past 16 months given the impact of the pandemic on employment. The IRS needs to make public announcements on what it is doing to fix this problem and how it is going to put taxpayers back in the right position.ࠁ problem like this has a disproportionate impact on low income taxpayers who generally lack representation and lack the knowledge to challenge the IRS calculation of the CSED.ࠅven the most sophisticated taxpayers face challenges in calculating the CSED because of its complexity, as noted in thispost from several years ago.ࠆor this problem to continue for half a decade after it was brought to the attention of the IRS is unacceptable. Source link Related Posts: A Proposal, A Problem, A Credit, And An Exodus?
What to Look for in Online Tax Prep and Filing Software You may have a less taxing time this April if you let computer software do much of the hard work filing with the IRS. You wonҴ be alone. According to IRS data, more than 68 million tax returns were filed electronically last year, with more than 17 million taxpayers filing their own returns online. Ӕhere are a number of benefits that online tax prep and e-filing offer but you should do a little bit of homework first to get the greatest value for your dollar,Ԡsaid Debra Gray, tax software manager for CCH. According to Gray, some of the questions you should look to answer are: Is the software easy and secure? Online software can save time because you donҴ have to download it to your computer. Make sure, however, the program is easy to navigate, helps you organize your information and provides the support resources you need to complete your return, as well as encrypting your data using recognized security standards. Can you work at your own pace? Online tax preparation sites let you password protect your work, logging back in as often as you need. Make certain the program also automatically checks for errors or oversights and provides links to the problems for quick correction of potentially costly mistakes. What becomes of your return after you file? Make sure the program maintains a record of your prior yearҳ return, so you can roll over basic information from one year to the next. Does it clearly show the cost of preparing and filing your returns? Navigating the add-on pricing structure used by some tax software providers can be taxing in itself, with some promoting a federal price or free federal filing but not clearly indicating added costs for completing a state tax return. According to Gray, most do-it-yourself taxpayers should be able to find a good tax program for under $40, including costs for preparing both a federal and state return and e-filing the returns. What are the payment and refund options? Many sites let you deduct the cost of using their program from your expected tax refund and allow direct deposit of your refund into your bank account, for even faster access to your refund. What are the help and support options? Ideally, the program should be straightforward but you will want this safety net, so make sure the tax program offers support features via e-mail or live online chat. Ӕaxpayers who have been trying to complete their returns using pencil and paper or have been frustrated by the tax software programs theyҶe used in the past, really owe it to themselves to take a look at the features available in online tax software this year,Ԡsaid Gray. Ӑreparing taxes isnҴ how most people want to spend their time, but if theyҲe using the right tools, they can save time completing their returns online. As an added bonus, they will likely learn a few things that can help them save even more on their taxes this year and beyond.Լ/p> Related Posts: What to Look for in Online Tax Prep and Filing Software Retail Tax Franchises or Online Tax Software? Filing Taxes Online Now Stress Free, Cost Free Filing Taxes Online Now Stress Free, Cost Free Donor Disclosures, Income Measures, and Tax Prep
What to Look for in Online Tax Prep and Filing Software You may have a less taxing time this April if you let computer software do much of the hard work filing with the IRS. You wonҴ be alone. According to IRS data, more than 68 million tax returns were filed electronically last year, with more than 17 million taxpayers filing their own returns online. Ӕhere are a number of benefits that online tax prep and e-filing offer but you should do a little bit of homework first to get the greatest value for your dollar,Ԡsaid Debra Gray, tax software manager for CCH. According to Gray, some of the questions you should look to answer are: Is the software easy and secure? Online software can save time because you donҴ have to download it to your computer. Make sure, however, the program is easy to navigate, helps you organize your information and provides the support resources you need to complete your return, as well as encrypting your data using recognized security standards. Can you work at your own pace? Online tax preparation sites let you password protect your work, logging back in as often as you need. Make certain the program also automatically checks for errors or oversights and provides links to the problems for quick correction of potentially costly mistakes. What becomes of your return after you file? Make sure the program maintains a record of your prior yearҳ return, so you can roll over basic information from one year to the next. Does it clearly show the cost of preparing and filing your returns? Navigating the add-on pricing structure used by some tax software providers can be taxing in itself, with some promoting a federal price or free federal filing but not clearly indicating added costs for completing a state tax return. According to Gray, most do-it-yourself taxpayers should be able to find a good tax program for under $40, including costs for preparing both a federal and state return and e-filing the returns. What are the payment and refund options? Many sites let you deduct the cost of using their program from your expected tax refund and allow direct deposit of your refund into your bank account, for even faster access to your refund. What are the help and support options? Ideally, the program should be straightforward but you will want this safety net, so make sure the tax program offers support features via e-mail or live online chat. Ӕaxpayers who have been trying to complete their returns using pencil and paper or have been frustrated by the tax software programs theyҶe used in the past, really owe it to themselves to take a look at the features available in online tax software this year,Ԡsaid Gray. Ӑreparing taxes isnҴ how most people want to spend their time, but if theyҲe using the right tools, they can save time completing their returns online. As an added bonus, they will likely learn a few things that can help them save even more on their taxes this year and beyond.Լ/p> Related Posts: What to Look for in Online Tax Prep and Filing Software Retail Tax Franchises or Online Tax Software? Filing Taxes Online Now Stress Free, Cost Free Filing Taxes Online Now Stress Free, Cost Free Donor Disclosures, Income Measures, and Tax Prep
In January of this year Iwrote about a problem with the Collection Statute of Limitations (CSED) that my clinic encountered.ࠉn our quest to resolve the CSED problem, we involved the Local Taxpayer Advocate office.ࠉt confirmed that the CSED had run, despite the fact that the taxpayerҳ account was still open, and told us there was a glitch in the system; however, we were not told what the glitch was.ࠁ strong suspect for the glitch has now been identified. The recently publishedNational Taxpayer Advocate Objectives Report to Congress (Fiscal Year 2022) provides some information on the glitch.ࠔhe glitch was first publicly identified in ablog post by then-NTA Nina Olson.ࠉn that post, Nina said the IRS was working to address a glitch that was causing the IRS computer system not to recognize the CSED in certain cases in which taxpayers had sought installment agreements.ࠓhe indicated in her post that the issue surfaced two years prior in 2016 and her office had been working to identify cases.༯p> Her blog post identified five different buckets of cases in which the IRS was incorrectly calculating the CSED: Bucket 1 = multiple pending IAs with only one corresponding rejected IA determination Bucket 2 = one pending IA and one approved IA where 52 or more weeks have passed Bucket 3 = multiple pending IAs with one approved IA, where 26 or more weeks have passed Bucket 4 = one pending IA with one rejected IA, at least 52 weeks later Bucket 5 = one pending IA, with no other action on the IA request for at least 52 weeks Prior to her post, the IRS had agreed to review the cases TAS identified in Bucket 3 and found that 83% had incorrect CSEDs. Three years later and five years after the problem was identified, the recently published objectives report contains Objective 16 which is ӃONTINUE ADVOCACY EFFORTS TO CORRECT ERRONEOUS COLLECTION STATUTE EXPIRATION DATES DUE TO PENDING INSTALLMENT AGREEMENTS.Ԡ This section of the report states the following: In 2017, TAS identified a population of taxpayer accounts with unreversed or improperly reversed pending IAs that led to incorrect CSED calculations and erroneously added time to the tax debt collection period. TAS also found inconsistent IRS procedures related to CSED guidance. The IRS agreed to correct taxpayer accounts with erroneous CSEDs and the underlying problems that led to the miscalculations. In July 2020, TAS identified and provided the IRS with over 6,000 taxpayer accounts with CSEDs erroneously extended by one year or more. As of December 2020, the IRS had not finished reviewing and correcting these cases. TAS has recently provided the IRS with several thousand more taxpayer accounts that appear to have the CSED incorrectly extended by a year or more. Despite efforts to find and correct unreversed and improperly reversed pending IAs, TAS continues to find errors, resulting in incorrect CSED extensions of a year or more. I did not include the footnotes contained in this quote, which primarily refer to emails between TAS and an unidentified part of the IRS. I assume without being sure that the problems described in the Objectives Report detailing a continuation of the issues first publicly identified in the NTA blog post in 2018 resulted in the problem in the case in my clinic.ࠎow that we know the problem has continued long after it was identified and brought to the attention of the IRS and that it appears to be widespread for those taxpayers who entered into a failed installment agreement, all practitioners should be on the alert for IRS efforts to continue collection past the expiration of the statute of limitations. This is not a problem that should be ongoing.ࠔhe IRS should have fixed this problem long ago.ࠉt should be affirmatively notifying taxpayers and affirmatively refunding money to them.ࠁ high percentage of installment agreements fail.ࠅmployees of the Automated Call Sites routinely convince taxpayers to enter into installment agreements that the taxpayer cannot support over the long haul and taxpayers routinely have a rosier forecast for their financial future than turns out to be the case.ࠉtҳ easy to imagine even the best planned installment agreements failing in large numbers over the past 16 months given the impact of the pandemic on employment. The IRS needs to make public announcements on what it is doing to fix this problem and how it is going to put taxpayers back in the right position.ࠁ problem like this has a disproportionate impact on low income taxpayers who generally lack representation and lack the knowledge to challenge the IRS calculation of the CSED.ࠅven the most sophisticated taxpayers face challenges in calculating the CSED because of its complexity, as noted in thispost from several years ago.ࠆor this problem to continue for half a decade after it was brought to the attention of the IRS is unacceptable. Source link Related Posts: A Proposal, A Problem, A Credit, And An Exodus?